Mothers
by Child of Lord Toothless
Summary: After the return from Gongmen City, Po still mourns the loss of his biological parents. Luckily, he's got someone to comfort him. NO SLASH


I own nothing but the story.

It is a peaceful day in the village you would call the Valley of Peace. The sun is high in the sky with so very little clouds getting in the way. Up at the Jade Palace, where battle cries are usually heard, everything was silent. That was because Shifu had assigned the Five to meditate in the most peaceful place they could find. Tigress occupied the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. Viper, with her master's blessing, occupied the Dragon Grotto. Monkey and Mantis occupied the Pool of Sacred Tears while Crane just occupied the Jade Tortouise. The head of the Jade Palace, Grandmaster Shifu occupied the Moon Pool for his relaxing meditation that he so desperately needed. It's been a rather tiring few days after returning from Gongmen City after all.

The elderly red panda let out a soft sigh. "Inner peace..." he spoke quietly, taking in another sigh.

_Thump, thump, thump. _

What the...

_Thump, thump, thump. _

There it is again. It only took him just a few more seconds to realize who this was. Shifu let out yet another slightly annoyed sigh. "Panda, I know you're there. You can stop hiding from me now."

The panda popped his head out from hiding. "Hehe, hey Master..." he spoke sheepishly.

"What is it you want, Po?"

"I was kinda thinking maybe I...uhh, I was thinking...you see..." the panda could not come up with the right words to say.

"Spit it out!"

"I was thinking I could meditate with you."

Shifu eyed him, rather shocked, but at the same time, flattered. He expected him to be meditating with Tigress or Monkey. "You want to meditate with me?" he asked, wondering if he heard him right.

"Well yeah. After all, you are my Master. And you kinda made kung fu possible for me so...hehe."

Shifu smiled warmly at his pupil. "Of course you can, Po."

"Thank you!" With that, the young panda sat in a criss cross position beside Shifu's staff. The two sat in silence for what seemed like the longest of moments. Po quietly twaddled his fingers, while Shifu tried to concentrate on meditation. However, his sensitive hearing picked up the sound of Po's fingers scraping against eachother.

"Is something on your mind?"

Po snapped out of his trance. "Oh umm... no! I'm fine! Totally! Not upset at all..." he lied, giving his elderly friend a fake smile.

Shifu however was not falling for it. "I can tell when one lies to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I've been meaning to ask you something."

"About what?"

"Did you...erm... what was your mother like?"

Shifu gave him a look like Po had just grown two extra heads. He was asking about his mother? What for? "Erm... well...she was beautiful. She had a wonderful sense of humor, for the most part. She used to imitate my father in a joking manner alot. I hardly remember any of her jokes though. I was quite young when she passed."

"Oh I'm so sorry. What happened?" Po asked, almost slapping himself directly afterwards.

"She died in a bandit raid when I was no more than two years old. I can't remember exactly what happened, but my father told me had it not been for her, he and I wouldn't be alive. My father talked about her like she was a godess. After what she did for us, I can't say I blame him."

"Thats awful. I'm so sorry, I didn't know." The panda's ears were now flat against his head and his pupils grew large.

"It's alright, it was a long time ago. I'm sure she's in a better place now, just watching over me. Why do you ask?"

Now it was Po's turn to tell Shifu about his mother. "When I was...erm shot out of the factory in Gongmen City, I woke up in an old panda village that just happened to be the place that my parents lived. I was born there and I was going to be raised there. But Lord Shen laid waste to the entire valley. My father held off the wolf bandits while my mother took me away from the village. The last time I saw him was when I was in my mother's arms, just looking at him while he looked back at me like he was sorry. Like he felt like he had failed me or something. The last time I saw her is when she put me in a wooden box and distracted the wolves from attacking me." Po couldn't help but tear up, but he immediately wiped his tears away. He knew Shifu didn't like it when he cried.

And yet he was shocked to find a small paw set itself upon his shoulder. He looked up to see Shifu smiling down at him with his soft, wise eyes. "Come closer, Po. Let me show you something my master showed me long ago."

The young panda stood up. He only seemed to be one inch shorter than Shifu was on his staff. "Look into the Moon Pool. What do you see?" the elderly red panda instructed, wrapping his small arm around Po's large shoulder.

"Myself?" Po guessed, although he knew he was most likely wrong.

"Look harder."

The panda nodded, taking a deeper look into the Moon Pool. For the first few seconds, he saw nothing but his reflection. But then a pink flower petal floated among the water ever so softly towards Po's reflection. Then there was a flash. Then there was a vision of another panda. A female panda. Her graceful green eyes were looking directly up at him, her lips smiling up at him proudly. Her flowing pink dress blew as if it were blowing in the wind. Po reached hand for her, she did the same. Two panda paws met without touching. This was his mother.

"You see? She lives within you." Shifu spoke softly, rubbing his back lightly. The panda turned to face his Master. He smiled before turning back to the Moon Pool. The female panda was gone. Po was once again overcome with great anguish as he faced his Master yet again. "A wise old turtle once told me: a family is like a group of stars. You don't always see them. But you know they are there. Your mother was a brave panda and so was your father." Shifu continued. "And so are you. They would've been so proud of you, as am I."

"Thanks, Master." The panda smiled up at his elderly friend.

"Don't mention it, kid." Shifu placed his hand on his pupil's shoulder.

It was then that Po's eyes locked with Shifu's blue ones. For a split second, Po didn't see Shifu. Instead, he saw his biological father, smiling proudly like a father would for his son. His vision flashed back to Shifu and he realized just how much of a father the red panda really is to him. He realized how much of his own father he truly saw in the red panda before him. Yes, they had a rough start, but Shifu was the first to ever really accept him and even became really good friends with him. "You really are the best." he spoke before slamming into the red panda, throwing his flabby black around his middle.

Shifu gasped, having no idea what to do. But then he chuckled warmly, giving him a few pats on the back. "Now now, don't go breaking your old Master's back, you hear?" he teased sarcastically.

Po released him. "Sorry, Shifu."

"Well now, I'd suggest you go join your friends. Haven't you made plans for your bean bun contest?"

Po gasped, eyes going wide as though he had seen a ghost. "How-how'd you know about that?" he asked, blinking rapidly.

"You'd be surprised how I know so much. Would you like me to lay out a few examples?" The old master was smirking, totally enjoying this.

"No thanks! I'm good!" With that, he dashed out of the Hall of Warriors as if he was being chased.

Shifu burst out laughing, almost falling to the floor. He fell silent, and then he bursted out laughing harder. Once his laughter died down, he took a deep sigh. "Kids," he muttered before relaxing himself into meditation.

End

Okay, I really cried on this one.


End file.
